The purpose of this study was to discover grade twelve students'
understanding of essay, and to examine how that understanding might interact
with their process of shaping meaning as they write. Shaping meaning was
defined as giving form to the content of the essay. The study was conducted in
a grade twelve English class of twenty-two students. The information was
gathered through observation of and discussion with the students while they
wrote and shared their writing, through the examination of their written work,
especially learning logs, reading logs, essays and assignments, and through
conferences and interviews with individual students.
The study found that many of the students' beliefs about essay, and their
behaviours during the writing process were consistent with those reported in the
literature. The study also found that students have a fairly consistent, fixed idea
of essay as something defined by prescriptive structural requirements. And,
furthermore, that this conception of essay interferes with the students' ability to
shape meaning according to purpose rather than formula.
The findings also indicate that students should benefit from exposure to a
variety of authentic essay models with a focus on understanding how those
essays achieve their purpose in the context of their meaning, rather than a focus
on studying models to emulate form. In addition, it may be necessary for
teachers to actively unteach formulaic understandings of essay in order to
facilitate growth in students' writing ability.

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Lethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Faculty of Education, 1998